Be a Cluey Voter

As a South Aussie, I'm voting in the South Australian state election this Saturday, 20 March 2010. There are 74 candidates running for the 11 seats in the SA Legislative Council (upper house of Parliament).

State legislative councillors, like senators at the federal level, are elected by a preferential voting system, known as proportional representation. Like many voters, I prefer to vote "below the line", i.e., deciding on my own order of choice for all the candidates by numbering each and every box. Voting below the line gives voters more flexibility to reflect their personal preferences. But sequentially numbering each and every candidate from 1 to N (where N = 74 at this SA election) is time consuming and error prone. That's why many voters choose to vote "above the line", relying on the so-called "Group Voting Ticket" by which a party allocates its preferences.

But what if you could vote below the line easily, without the risk of mistakes? I developed a simple web application to do just this, which I've called Cluey Voter.

Just specify your level of support for each group on the ballot, and Cluey Voter numbers candidates to reflect your order. Note that numbering is automatically generated and is in no way any recommendation on how to vote!

So try it out, and be a cluey voter!

Posted by Alan Noble, Engineering Director, Google Australia and New Zealand